


The Taste of Death

by ultramarcypan



Series: Hannibal & Will's Excursions in Video Games [2]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 05:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4251930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultramarcypan/pseuds/ultramarcypan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are ups and downs to dating Hannibal Lecter.  This is one of the ups, Will likes to think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Taste of Death

There are ups and downs to dating Hannibal Lecter. This is one of the ups, Will likes to think. He’s never been poor, per say, but he’s also never had money to blow on luxuries in life. Take for example, the sleek flat screen he’s currently sitting in front of. Definitely not something he would have spent money on, but it’s certainly nice to use. 

Hannibal, for his part, had been very accommodating in letting Will use his television. He had installed it in his office (“One can never be too prepared, Will”) but seldom, if ever, used it. When he had seen Will eyeing it, he had very graciously offered him free reign of it. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Will had accepted.

He had also dug the old PS3 Alana had given him for his birthday out of his attic. She had given it to him in hopes it would get him to socialize more and have a connection to other people; in actuality, it had served as a very fancy device to watch Netflix on for a while until he got bored of that.

Now, Will’s dragged it to Hannibal’s office and set it up with the flat screen. The psychiatrist had shaken his head in distaste, claiming that video games were pointlessly mind numbing and beneath the both of them, but had allowed it to stay in the end. He owns only 3 games to go with the system: a Madden game that still has the wrapping on it, Resident Evil 6, and Skyrim. Skyrim is his favorite, by far; the world of Tamriel is so vast and beautiful, Will can lose himself in it for hours. It’s a nice change of pace from the grim reality he lives in.

When he boots up the game, he finds himself in Markarth. Vaguely, he remembers something about hunting down Forsworn, but it’s been so long he’s uncertain. As he makes his way out of the Jarl’s keep (mashing buttons the whole time to try to remember the controls-whoops, maybe he shouldn’t shout indoors, people might get mad) he runs into two men having an argument. One of them, Brother Verulus, turns to him. 

The next thing he knows, Will is on a quest to investigate the Hall of the Dead, where the dead are being eaten. “You have got to be kidding me.” He mumbles under his breath, staring deadpan at the screen. He’s starting to think that Hannibal might be right about God having a messed up sense of humor.

“Something the matter Will?” Hannibal calls to him from his desk, where he’s sorting through a stack of paperwork. Will dickers for a moment, then decides to go with the truth.

“I was just sent on a quest to investigate a cannibal.” He says even, glancing over his shoulder at his boyfriend. Hannibal freezes, hand suspended in midair. He straightens, a small smirk on his face and his eyes far too amused for Will’s taste.

“I take back what I said about your games Will; they may have some merit to them after all.” Curiously, Hannibal glances at the screen before flicking his gaze back to Will. “You had best get on it then. Maybe you’ll have better luck this time around.”

Will is sorely tempted to fling the game case at his boyfriend, but resists. Instead, he shoots back, “Maybe I’ll just date this one as well-my character isn’t married in this file, I’ll have you know.” Hannibal chuckles at that, and Will feels heat bloom in his chest. 

“If you feel that would be most appropriate.” Hannibal allows, dipping his head slightly towards Will. Satisfied with that response, Will settles back into the sofa and turns his attention back to the game. Vaguely, he’s aware of Hannibal still watching him.

Dutifully, he heads to the Hall of the Dead and makes his way to the end. A hand brushes against his shoulder and he jumps; Hannibal has come to stand behind him and is tilting his head at the television. The two of them watch as a woman, Eola, reveals herself from the shadows. She whispers sweet words to him, trying hard to convince his character to give in to his animalistic desire to consume human flesh. Will debates for a moment, deciding to pry a bit further. Eola prattles on about a safe haven for people like them, marks a new location on his map, and then disappears. A notification pops up on the screen, telling Will to take Brother Verulus and follow her to continue with the quest.

Hannibal shifts his weight behind him, and Will has to fight down a grin. Who would’ve thought that even the brilliant Hannibal Lecter would fall victim to the black hole that was Skyrim?

He winds up deep in a cave, with a huge stone table set before him. There are a bunch of hooded figures gathered around, all murmuring words of encouragement as Will offers Verulus up as a sacrifice. All around him there are whispers to feast on his flesh and make himself stronger, to surrender himself to the darkness and embrace his true nature.

Will hesitates here. The importance of the decision is not lost on him, and he’s acutely aware of Hannibal’s presence behind him. His character waits patiently on the screen, the dialogue box prompting him to make a choice. He stares hard at the screen, then makes his choice.

The hand on his shoulder squeezes in approval as his character moves forward to partake in the feast. “Don’t read too much into this.” He mumbles, as he feels Hannibal smirk behind him. “It’s only a video game.”  
“Of course.” The quest finishes, and Will suddenly has a ring with the perk of restored health for feasting on the bodies of his enemies. All in all, things could be worse he figures.

“The visuals are quite stunning in this game; they all look very well done and realistic.”

Hannibal has moved to sit next to him on the sofa, legs folded neatly over one another. His dark eyes are focused intently on the screen, carefully observing everything on it.

“Did...did you want to try playing for a while?” Will offers hesitantly, holding the PS3 controller out to his boyfriend. Hannibal hesitates for a brief moment before accepting the controller.

“I suppose it would not hurt.”

*

“Some of the people in this game are unspeakably rude, Will.” Hannibal actually sounds insulted, and it’s taking all of Will’s strength not to laugh at the older man.

It had taken Hannibal all of 5 minutes to master the controls of the game. Will both hates and admires him for his perfection. After backing up his game on a spare save file, he had fast traveled to Whiterun and set Hannibal loose.

“Yeah, some of them are.” He agrees good-naturedly, curling up against his boyfriend. Hannibal makes a noise of distaste as someone bumps into him and shouts for him to watch it. “If you leave the town, there’ll be less people around.” He offers helpfully.

Hannibal almost makes it out of town without an incident. He’s right by the stables when a guard jeers at him, and the next thing Will knows, Hannibal has drawn the ebony dagger Will has equipped and is stabbing the guard in the throat.

“HANNIBAL NO!” Will yelps, jolting forward. 

“Yes?” The older man sounds far too innocent as the guard collapses dead at his feet. “Something the matter?” Will sputters indignantly for a moment, then glares at his boyfriend.

“You can’t just go around killing people!” The brow that’s quirked in his direction shows what Hannibal thinks of that statement. “They’ll throw you in jail if you're caught.”

“Then I simply will not get caught.” Hannibal says, like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Will doesn’t have a response for that. At least not at first.

“Give me the controller.” Will lunges for it, taking Hannibal off guard, and manages to pry it from the others fingers.

“Excuse me? Rude.” Hannibal has something that looks suspiciously like a pout on his face, which turns to confusion when Will pulls up the menu. “What are you…?” His voice trails off as he watches Will equip the Ring of Namira, exit the menu, and hand the controller back to him.

“If you’re going to go around killing people might as well make it as realistic and believable as possible.” He says with a shrug. When Hannibal stares at him blankly, he reaches over and flicks the left thumbstick down so that it’s centered on the dead guards body. The text ‘Eat’ is displayed on the screen.

“Oh.” Hannibal blinks once, then smiles, leaning over to kiss Will. “That was quite considerate of you. And this way, there will be no evidence, yes?”

Will snorts, torn between amusement and affection. “Just don’t go overboard, okay? I only have so much gold.” He pauses, then his face lights up. “Oh, wait, you have to go find Braith in the town before you leave!”

“Do I?” Hannibal sounds wary and rightfully so.

Will nods, keeping a solid poker face. “Trust me, you’ll love her.” 

It takes Hannibal 3 minutes to find her, 20 seconds to decide to kill her, 1 second to realize that he can’t, and no time at all to pin Will to the sofa fully intent on revenge.


End file.
